Elections have consequences. There is little doubt that the reelection of President Obama will have far ranging consequences for the country. The last two decades of legislative elections in California have had enormous consequences for California and the U.S. more broadly. After 18 years of spending, taxing and regulating, the most resource-rich state in the Country is facing underemployment in excess of 20%, huge perennial deficits and failing schools. Sadly, the worst is yet to come.

California has unprecedented problems. Estimates suggest that the pensions for the state and local governments are underfunded in excess of $650 billion  over 6 and half times the yearly revenues of the state. The yearly operating budgets the last decade have featured deficits larger than the budgets of twenty states.

California features the 3rd highest unemployment rate in the nation with a million less people working today than 10 years ago, and nearly a 1/3rd of the U.S.s welfare recipients. California has suffered the worst of the foreclosure crisis, including having 8 of the 10 worst foreclosure areas.

Californians have lost over $2 trillion in homeowner equity since 1997  a number that exceeds the size of its yearly economy. Amidst such sorry news, since 1998, 4.4 million taxpayers have left the state in search of better economic climes.

The fortunes of the California Democrat Party have far exceeded those of their constituents. For the last 18 years, the Democrats have had majorities in both the Senate and the Assembly. They run the show  regardless of who is governor.

Even so, the Democrats and the press blame the Republicans for quite a list of alleged wrongs  most significantly holding up budgets and taxes.

Well, Now, with the implementation of Californias massive Global Warming law set to take effect, not to mention the passage of huge sales and income increases, California will be the highest taxed and regulated state in the world.

It already ranks last in the U.S. as a place to start a business because of taxes and regulations, and is witness to many employers leaving the state.

Born, raised, educated through college, and worked (until my layoff in September) in California my entire life. Neither my wife nor I are interested in moving out of state, although Arizona is possible (how much longer until CA inflicts AZ with its crud?!). Just hoping to be able to sell our home and downsize to another area of the state before the real estate market completely collapses.

I live far away from California. I also like to see if economic theory does indeed have predictable consequences in real life. Therefore, I am waiting anxiously for California's economic armageddon, kind of like waiting to see how my garden turns out this year.

It has been at least 20 years since the Republican party presidential nominee contested to win the state of California in a general election. So general election after general election, California languishes, it’s 55 electoral votes going the the Democrats by default.

Our in-state Republican party leadership won’t support Conservative candidates in-state (or out for that matter).

So what we have is a state with one functioning political party. Each election it gets worse. Each election California is denigrated more.

Folks in states back East are happy as can be to have the candidates fight for their votes. We hiss and moan about states with 4, 7, 19 electoral votes. The candidate shows up there ten times, and we lose the state anyway.

It just doesn’t dawn on them, that if you appeal to the people of California on sound principles, you can affect a number of things positively, in addition to the chances of the national candidate.

Pretty funny joke to folks back East, until you begin to think about what things are impacted by this.

California’s Republicans might just as well not show up at the polls. The guy at the top of the ticket that is supposed to fire them up, doesn’t. Countless Republicans stay home on election day. Vile initiative after vile initiative gets voted on by Democrats whose candidate does come to the state.

Our gubernatorial candidates get no national help. The Democrats pull out all the stops for their candidates. Top names come to the state. They make great sounding defenses for Liberal’s policy. Our guy can’t get television air-time because there are no big names here.

So California is blamed for abandoning Conservatism, and the fact that no Conservatives from outside the state come here, is lost on folks who think they know everything there is to know about the state.

Wait until the Republicans stop going to Ohio, South Carolina, Florida... begin to get the picture folks? When the main national candidate takes a pass on your state for twenty years, we’ll see if Conservatism is flourishing in your state.

You know what the outcome will be there though, don’t you.

So go ahead and blame California. You cut it loose decades ago, when we tried to tell you what illegal immigration was going to result in. I guess we shouldn’t expect you to listen now either.

And so it goes, until the next general election, when the national party will ignore Hispanics and the rest of us in-state, and then bitch about how goodies won the day.

No, ignorance, and abandonment won the day. Again!

19
posted on 11/14/2012 1:29:56 PM PST
by DoughtyOne
(Hurricane Sandy..., a week later and 48 million Americans still didn't have power.)

4.4 million taxpayers have left the state in search of better economic climes.

No doubt a large percentage of this count contains liberals who voted for all the policies which caused the California economic collapse in the first place. They’ll go to neighboring states, vote the same way, experience the same results ad inifinitum...

In the end they’ll always wonder why things were so great before they got here and so lousy when they’re forced to leave never once considering the cause was them.

In 2002, Simon ran against Gray Davis. Simon was a fairly good guy. He spent about $2 million dollars on his campaign. The Republican party didn’t lift one finger from in-state or out.

Gray Davis spent around $12.5 million on that campaign.

Gray Davis flew around the state on corporate jets. He appeared at large venues. The Democrat party had famous Senators, Presidential candidates, and former Presidents fly in to the state. They got famous actors and others to appear with him. In short, they pulled out all the stops.

Simon toured the state in a bus. He appeared in small venues, explained his values, which were quite sound. One national figure showed up for him. In addition, Bush made one appearance, possibly two on one afternoon.

Davis appeared on the news at a rate from 100% to 400% more air time. At some point this makes the challenger look small, and outmatched.

The point is, California is not that far out of reach. Had the Republican Party helped Simon, we would very likely have been spared the Schwarzenegger term in office, and possibly the Jerry Brown II administration.

If Simon had been voted in in 2002, California would have been more likely to go Republican in 2004, and possibly 2008 as well.

Yes California has gotten worse. It’s citizens are partly to blame for it. I don’t think they’re the only ones. It didn’t have to get worse.

It was in play, and it was ignored. We all pay for that now.

You can call the citizens of California anything you want. Just remember that while you’re pointing your finger at them, that the RNC has not been innocent in all this. Reserve some of your anger for it.

23
posted on 11/14/2012 2:26:17 PM PST
by DoughtyOne
(Hurricane Sandy..., a week later and 48 million Americans still didn't have power.)

Well, we agree enough that I will cheerfully direct some anger toward the RNC. I was stationed at Edwards AFB from 2001-2004, although I remember more about the recall than the actual election. IIRC, the conservative lost to Arnold’s star power to challenge Davis.

But the trend has not been our friend. 10 years later, California is voting for more and more rats. A presidential candidate in a tough race cannot afford to waste time and uncounted millions contesting California.

Yes, California’s residents are voting more and more for bad policy advocates.

Who are they supposed to get the truth from? They hear the media lies. They hear the Democrats lie. They don’t hear our in-state candidates because they get about 20% of the volume the Democrat does. And when we get a chance to have a real loud-mouth (no insult intended) during the general election process, that person never shows up.

Take any state you want. If that state only has the Democrats and their advocates making their case loud enough for the populace to hear, that state will go south in short order.

No offense taken from your comments. No animosity from this end either.

As you can tell, I’m quite frustrated with the current situation. California has to much potential to be cast adrift like this.

We’re going to screw around and lose California if we’re not smart enough to change our ways.

29
posted on 11/14/2012 3:26:35 PM PST
by DoughtyOne
(Hurricane Sandy..., a week later and 48 million Americans still didn't have power.)

One point I’ve been making that I didn’t there, was that California has the largest population of Hispanics in the nation.

Obama just got about 73% of the Hispanic vote. Folks are real quick to blame that on freebies. I don’t doubt that played a part in it. It’s undeniable though, that we didn’t compete in California for those votes.

Look, if we’re not going to compete for those votes, then don’t blame anyone but ourselves for not getting them.

32
posted on 11/14/2012 3:42:37 PM PST
by DoughtyOne
(Hurricane Sandy..., a week later and 48 million Americans still didn't have power.)

For OUTREACH purposes, we need to aggressively engage in California. Rather than think in terms of winning an election in 6 weeks, we need to spend the next 8-12 YEARS to rebuild the GOP in California. We’ve lost it - in the short term. But with an aggressive education and outreach program, focused on what California might be like in 2024, we might be able to win California again. But we need to accept that if the GOP is going to be a national party, what we need is not a computer get out the vote program on election day, and instead build the party from the ground up - focused on winning in 2024!

"No doubt a large percentage of this count contains liberals who voted for all the policies which caused the California economic collapse in the first place. Theyll go to neighboring states, vote the same way, experience the same results ad inifinitum..."

New Hampshire is a great case in point: influx from Massachusettes bought their crazy ideas with them, took over the gov't and wrecked a wonderful state.

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